Page 131 of The Last Lost Girl

I squeeze her hand despite the tight grip she has on mine. “I’m going to close my eyes and start, okay?”

Her shoulders shake as she cries. “Okay.” Tears stream down her cheeks.

The lanterns sway, painting the watery trails with amber. I close my eyes. Take a deep breath.

In the next second, Wendy’s hand crushes mine and something sharp stabs into my stomach. I gasp and my eyes fly open, then my head dips to see her hand curled around the handle of a large knife.

She places her other hand on my shoulder and jerks the blade free. I buckle and my knees hit the deck. The pain is searing, but what’s worse is the sticky, warm river of blood that flows from my stomach, curving around my fingers as I hold them to the wound.

I look up at her, trying not to breathe. Pain tears through my middle.

Why?

“You’re better off dead than his, Ava.” Her words tremble as she walks backward to the railing and tosses the knife into the water. She starts toward the ramp and stops short, sucking in a breath and slowly reversing her steps, her hands held out in surrender.

Nyin pulls herself up to the top of the ramp, preventing Wendy’s escape. The mermaid takes one look at me, and her face turns thunderous. Her coral scales rattle angrily. The pointed fin gracing her spine stands on end.

I slump to my side, pushing a blood-covered hand against the deck. My heart is pumping too fast. My clothes are soaked. Crimson blossoms onto the boards beneath me.

I’m bleeding out.

I’m going to die here. In Neverland.

Nyin bears her serrated teeth at Wendy.

Wendy turns to run, but Nyin is fast. She uses her claws to dig into the ship’s planks and catches the old woman’s ankle before she can take more than a couple steps. When Wendy crashes to the deck, Nyin drags her backward, across the deck, and down the ramp.

There’s a loud splash as Wendy hits the water, then another as Nyin does.

Frantic splashing.

Wendy’s brief scream is cut short and then… the sea settles into silence.

“Sydney?” I try to yell. But I can’t. My voice is dying, too. I slam the heel of my palm on the planks, but the sound is so dull there’s no way he’ll hear it.

Though it was nothing more than a whisper, he’s there the next minute. “What was that noise, Av –?”

My fingers stretch toward him. “Belle,” I rasp. I need Belle.

“Right,” he says, stunned. He runs to the ship’s side, cups his hands, and screams toward the ship. A minute later, he’s ringing some sort of bell. The noise carries.

I know they’ll hear him, but I worry it’ll be too late.

My hearing blurs and undulates like my vision. I can’t hold myself up, even with my elbow. My blood slickened hand weakens and slips away from my stomach. Blinking, I watch as Nyin crawls back in front of me. Her words are laced with panic and cut with fear. I might not know her words, but I know what they mean.

“Belle. I need Belle.”

She grabs my wrist like she did Wendy’s but there’s no anger, only urgency, when she pulls me toward the ramp. When she gets me onto it, she takes me into the water, breaking it with the spines on her back.

“Ava!” Sydney rushes to the deck when he hears the splash.

I try to tell him I’m okay, that she’s taking me to Belle, but I can’t.

Nyin keeps my head above the waves, curling her arm around my shoulders and swimming around the ship’s hull toward the open water where Belle is. She’s taking me to her so I can be healed.

“Thank you, Nyin,” I slur.

“Ay-vahhh!” she shrills.

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